Creation: RH'L5
The Story so Far
The is self-centric and demands the discovery of what gives pleasure.
The is socio-centric and demands development of purposes and projects that feel personally worthwhile.
The is self-centric and demands the discovery of reality in a way that benefits others who take heed.
The is socio-centric and demands the development of sensitive ways to rescue and aid someone in dire need.
In this regard:
Buddha captured the spirit:
Dag Hammarskjold was an arch-realist:
St. Augustine turned it upside down:
If the pattern holds, the next will be self-centric and involve discovery.
Creation: The Generative Quest
Function: To bring something original and valuable into existence.
i.e. happiness depends on the use of the will to produce something valuable despite uncertainties and obstacles.
So: The purpose of life is «to take on challenges that stretch you».
as a leads to a repeated search for challenges. These challenges should provide opportunities to work «in flow
» as often as possible. This is probably the source of the «producer mentality», identified in relation to earning a living (but not understood then). The may, however, be present with such a passionate intensity that everything else in the person's life pales into insignificance. Extreme risk-taking and supreme courage are then defining features of personal existence.
Anyone on the becomes intensely preoccupied with the tools and resources a their disposal because these are perceived as limiting factors. There is also a focus on the medium used to create and a concern that the social context is permissive and non-intrusive.
Everyday Creativitiy: All personal endeavour involves more than just mechanically doing or making something. Creativity and challenges are intrinsic to satisfying work. So the must be distinguished from normal universal creativity. «Normal creativity» operates in the service of normal work that accepts the current reality: whether commercial, governmental, based in voluntary work, or personal initiative. In contrast, those who pursue the get bored by routine work and are always trying to push the coundaries. They continually strive to reach beyond current reality and to produce something new and often unexpected. It is this specific that we are now examining.
More on «Everyday Creativity» ►
The requires persistent transcendence of current realities as the basis for creating the new. An explanation of transcendence was provided during the exploration of . It develops from looking at some unsatisfactory aspect of reality and being prepared to say to oneself: "It doesn't have to be like this!"
The was then developed to indicate how something different and better could be dreamed up and then actualized. For dynamics of this process, review the summary of Endeavour or see the full Endeavour picture.
That is a map of what everyone can do and potentially does all the time. It is a creative process, powered by that is intrinsic to the human condition. It was possible to discover a framework where the upper 3 transcendence-generating Levels () appeared at every stage. The effect of this is to maximize in any endeavour. Again, this is for everyone. It requires periodic commitment to a challenge, but does not depend on the presence of a .
A does, however, regard as natural, permanent and essential for a good life. The becomes a necessity for personal happiness, even if the intensity is such that death becomes a possibility.
The two higher can also be described as providing for , but they do not see happiness/meaning as rooted in making or discovering something new.
Correspondence to a Root Level: All psychosocial reality is created and sustained by communication. The ancients knew this, because they wrote that God created the earth by «sayings»: starting with "Let there be light and there was light". In , it was evident that the crucial actualizing step, following a to pursue a , involved . The elements of Communication-PH5—stimuli, signals, signs, symbols, references, terms, meanings—permeate any creative activity. Whether we think of our endeavours, or of conventional creative activity like crafts, music, art or science, expression is intrinsic to coming into social existence. If there is no , then something may have been brought into existence empirically—but it does not work as a creation in psychosocial terms.
► Jump to how the works in practice.
- Move on to the next : Obedience.
Originally posted: 8-Jun-2012.
